SUNDAY NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD | GIMME A SECOND!
Michael Schlossberg is an internist in Bend, Ore., who has been making crosswords for The Times since 2020. He got the idea for this one after seeing 68-Across as a title at his local bookstore. Although themeless puzzles are Mike’s favorites to solve, he says he doesn’t construct them “because I get decision paralysis — they’re too much of a blank canvas. I need to have a theme set to build around.”
ACROSS
1 “Old man”
5 “Yikes!” 9 Childproof-bottle contents, for short 13 Purchase at a cannabis dispensary 19 “Sounds ’bout right to me”
21 False ____
22 Fine parchment 23 It might be pressed before work
24 It might be pressed before work
26 Post concerned with etiquette 27 “Capeesh?” 28 Up-and-down, as a relationship 29 Internet harvesting tool
34 “On Photography” author Susan 36 1918-2004 Fenway Park phenomenon, familiarly 38 Nothing-doing? 42 They’re home to spinners
46 They’re home to spinners
50 Luxury fashion label 51 1990s workout fad 52 “The Racer’s Edge” sloganeer
53 Says, informally 54 Bay Area gallery, for short
59 Late winter/early spring, weatherwise 63 “____ and the Night Visitors” (opera) 65 Fragrant bloomers 67 Animal that becomes a plant if spelled backward 68 Bandleader’s urging … or an alternative title for this puzzle
74 New ____
75 Guides
76 Athleisure portmanteau
78 Certain beach top 83 Snooty
85 Many a Yemeni 86 Piece de resistance? 87 Tourney round 89 Some goofs
91 One sailing through long passages
95 One sailing through long passages
99 Ready and waiting 100 Gadgets for truckers 102 Porterhouse alternatives
106 Inspiration for many a lottery pick
111 Shame, e.g.
114 The yoke’s on them 116 Chuck ____, TV director/producer who’s known as the King of Sitcoms
117 Target of many a viral marketing campaign 119 Target of many a viral marketing campaign 123 Lead role in 1978’s “La Cage aux Folles” 124 Kind of terrier
125 Exclamation after a rescue
126 Warm coat
127 Dash
128 Measurable impact, so to speak
129 Bad news for an investor
DOWN
1 Spoke (up)
2 Petrichor, n.: The pleasant ____ of rainfall on dry soil
3 Bird also known as a lapwing 4 150-mile-per-hour train 5 Dawn figure, in myth 6 Bovid named for the sound it makes
7 “____ was saying … ” 8 Part of an ellipsis 9 Skinflints 10 Novelist Ferber 11 Subject of a subway announcement
12 Remedy for a blink-and-you-missed-it moment
13 First lady?
14 Start of a classic request for advice
15 Bad reasoning
16 Rap’s ____ Chyna 17 Hang in the shadows 18 TV award
20 Actress Ritter of “Jessica Jones”
25 Serene, informally 27 For the lady
30 Country singer Stapleton 31 Remote-button abbr. 32 Hotshot
33 Place for a porter 35 Clip-on, for one 37 Superfund grp.
39 Bit of slander
40 Titan who gave birth on Delos
41 Disney subsidiary 42 Story that isn’t a quick read
43 BOGO, e.g.
44 Words after a verbal gaffe
45 Accessory for a ride-share vehicle
47 ____ cycle
48 “Aladdin” sidekick 49 Amazing woman, slangily
51 “Agricola” author 55 Petal pusher?
56 Peace, in Russian 57 Stadium cheer
58 Big mouths
60 “Told you so!”
61 Ursine : bears :: anguilliform : ____ 62 Dakota tribe
64 Staying power
66 Part of a process 69 “I’ve seen better” 70 Cool, back in the day 71 “Good” day: Abbr. 72 Santa-tracking org. 73 Really annoy, with “on” 77 Lift type
78 Just … all right
79 Info in a party invitation
80 Apple variety 81 Stephen of “Michael Collins” 82 “Eww! Enough!” 84 Bittern, e.g. 88 Bimonthly business magazine 90 Election-night news 92 Plant that may be mistaken for a dandelion 93 Landlocked province 94 Grp. once led by Arafat 95 Kind of lily
96 Hoover, for one, in brief
97 “No idea,” in a text 98 Like Ikea furniture assembly, for short 101 Sports jacket
103 “As if!”
104 Live and breathe 105 Feed
107 Storybook ending? 108 “Nice job!”
109 People of western New York
110 Sunders
111 Tourist mecca in southern Asia
112 “Never ____ Kissed” (1999 Drew Barrymore film) 113 Part of A.D.
115 Singer with the album “Watermark” 118 Hunky-dory
119 Email-chain abbr. 120 Min Jin ____, author of the 2017 best seller “Pachinko”
121 You can dispense with this
122 Complete collection